HD Slideshow Technology Tip

This month’s tech tip breaks down a few of the most common questions regarding HD virtual tours and HD slideshows.

If you would like step by step directions to create a Standalone Slideshow please CLICK HERE.

See below for the common Q & A

Q: How do I get HD still images? There is not an export to high res button in Tour Builder when I add the stills.

A: When you are stitching and adding pans the Export to High Res button allows you to save the pan the same size as it comes out of the photo stitching software. The button does not actually change the pan in any way. You do not need a similar button for still images because the when the image is fresh from your camera it is already high resolution. In fact, it may be too large for the HD interface to accept. Make sure you check the file size before uploading. If it is over 800 kb then resize it to 700-800 pixels high and then compress it if it still over 800 kb.

Q: Why do my slideshow pictures look grainy?

A: It sounds like you are using scenes from the tour in your slideshow. If you add scenes to the slideshow from the tour and you do not have HD images available OR you create the slideshow BEFORE uploading the HD, then the slideshow is using the 300 pixel high images that you compressed in Tour Builder.

A: Locate your tour on TMS and click the HD button. Each scene should have a magnifying glass to the far right of the scene name. If there is no magnifying glass then the scene did not upload. Check the file size. If the image is over 800 kb it will fail upload but it will not alert you. If you upload all of your HD images at once and even one is over sized the whole upload will fail. If you can see a magnifying glass then an image has been uploaded. Check your source image on the computer and make sure that you have resized it properly. ore than one person has uploaded images that were 300 pixels high, or the photos were resized to 300 pixels wide, instead of high, or another combination of weirdness that caused an undesirable result.

Q: I made some changes and reuploaded my tour but the new scenes are not showing up. What happened?

A: If you make changes in Tour Builder like adding new scenes or changing scenes it only changes the low res version of the images. Those images are used in the Java tour and the 2D Flash tour. The 3D Flash tour uses the HD images if they are available. If you change images in the Tour Builder then you have to upload changed images through HD as well, if you don’t the 3D Flash tour will show the original images.

Q: My virtual tour needs to go on the MLS. Is there an unbranded version of the slideshow available?

A: By default the MLS version of the tour has nothing added on it. If go into Buttons and turn the slideshow button on in the restricted column, the version of the slideshow on the MLS tour will be unbranded. Also, if you do a standalone slideshow an unbranded link is available for use.

Our HD tours and V-Slides are well worth the few minutes it will take for you to learn to smoothly create them. Remember, we are here to help. Yeah for new technology!